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Title: The Man Who Owns Little

Author: Mark Ernest Pothier

Narrator: Kurt Bernhardt

Format: Unabridged

Length: 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-24-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Pete - an impetuous, avowedly self-absorbed writer - and Dave - a pithy banker with a "genius for generosity" - had maintained a close friendship since their first days at college. They stood as Best Man for each other; they are godfathers to each other's sons. That bond cracks during one visit in their mid-30s, and since then neither can say with any satisfaction why.

In their ensuing letters, both men begin speaking with a candor they never shared face-to-face, and over 15 years they break down and rebuild what each thought of the other, and of themselves, sifting the remains of a friendship dissolved and youth passed.

Editorial Reviews:

A writer and banker - on the edge of middle age; best man at each others wedding; godfather to each other's sons; and the closest of friends beginning their freshman year at college - pick over the splinters of their lives. Their series of letters is an increasingly sad back-and-forth of what has become a relationship of affronts, regrets, and pain. Venting anguish and melancholy, Kurt Bernhardt performs Nelson Algren Short Story Award-winning author Mark Ernest Pothiers epistolary novella of men challenged by a friendship gone astray into honest and revealing introspection.

Members Reviews:

Another beautiful story from Mark Pothier

'My first thought, which originally occurred to me on the plane trip home from San Francisco, was that we have become what we always were.' Mark Pothier's new story witnesses that becoming, with all its inevitable and unforeseen aspects, in a series of letters between two men attempting to come to terms with the deterioration of their long friendship.

In both The Man Who Owns Little and his previous story, The First Light of Evening, Mark Pothier articulates with precision and sympathy how people reach out to one another and wall themselves off at the same time. His story deftly limns the passage of time, the yearning for connection, the breaking and tentative reconstruction of the spirit, and the need to understand, reveal, and justify our lives. It does so by way of the simplest of details: a 'busted guitar,' a 'bucket of chicken.' It does so by way of his characters' unique voices. It does so by way of its elegant structure, circling back on itself in such a way that upon finishing you turn immediately back to its beginning, and read it again with deeper understanding. It calls to mind T.S. Eliot's line about exploring the world and our lives within it, that its purpose, its 'end...will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.'

I can't wait to see his forthcoming novel.

Very good read

I read the first of Mark Pothier's stories 2 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, so as I browsed through Amazon for something to read during Christmas "break", I was excited to discover two new offerings from him - "The Man Who Owns Little" and "What will you Miss Most". I eagerly downloaded both and spent the rest of the day devouring them. Although I liked the latter story much more, both stories were very rewarding and have stayed with me over the past week. I plan to re-read both of them and look forward to more stories from Mr Pothier.

A highly convincing account of friends drifting apart

Pete is a struggling writer, David a witty banker. In 1992 David and his wife visit Pete in San Francisco.